Dragon Dream
by Sky Hunter
Summary: From time to time, dragons and their riders will go between never to reappear, and are mourned as dead by their Weyrs. Sometimes however, those lost this way might find other fates than death.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: the Dragonriders of Pern belongs to Anne McCaffrey.

* * *

_Black, blacker, blackest..._

Keeping those words in her mind, Jahra ensured that she had a good hold on the belt worn by the rider sitting in front of her, closing her eyes tightly in expectation of what was about to come. Then the feel of the warmth of the sun at her back was replaced by the shocking cold of Between, but while she did her best to keep her fear under control, it was quite terrifying. The cold and the complete sensory deprivation of Between, along with the memory of her first experience of it only a sevenday ago, didn't make enduring those few moments any easier.

But then, at the count of two 'breaths'..

Though she couldn't actually see anything, Jahra knew that her eyes opened wide as a horrible feeling of falling hit her with full force, growing stronger with each second that passed. And as the first sensation was followed by pain, she opened her mouth to scream, though there was nothing to carry the sound.

Then.., images and emotions flashed in her mind-- suggestions of something huge and very close, pulsing with strange power.

_Confusion.._

_Fear.._

_Helplessness.._

_A desperate plea for help from a dragon mind, that likely went unheard.._

Jahra's mind reeled from the shock of what was happening, then her consciousness started fading, the lack of oxygen proving too much on top of what her body and mind was being subjected to.

Though as she blacked out, part of her mind imagined that dark Between was replaced by blue sky and glimpses of twin suns whose light stung her eyes. And still they continued the tumble downwards...

* * *

Though that she had hovered between sleep and being awake for a while, imagining that she heard voices and people moving around her, a strange sound finally woke her completely. Coming from somewhere nearby, it was a deep sound which vibrated through her as well as the ground under her-- rapidly raising in pitch, then it ended as a sharp whistle came from another direction.

Opening her eyes, Jahra found herself laying on the ground, her head resting at her folded up wher-hide jacket.

And above was a roof of woven straw and twigs, held up by poles at each corner.

Certainly it seemed to be some kind of makeshift hut, if it even deserved to be called that, certainly not constructed to last for long by whoever that had made it.

Jahra sat up, wincing at the movement caused a unknown number of bruises and small cuts to make their presence known. Well, it felt like she was alive at least, though she would have prefered if her body wouldn't be quite as insistent on telling her that.

It didn't feel like anything was broken though, even if that didn't mean that something might be...

There had been that Healer who had told her that some injuries might not be felt right away, due to shock..

Still, after stretching her limbs and looking for cuts or other signs of injury, she couldn't really find anything but a nice collection of bruises. Standing up went well too, though the muscles in her legs complained a bit, standing upright went fine. At least she didn't feel dizzy or weak, neither did she think that the slight nausea she was feeling might be a reason for her to feel concerned.

Finally she decided that it was time to have a look outside. And grabbing the jacket her head had rested on to put it on, it was a bit chilly after all, Jahra bent slightly as she watched for any sign of danger as she stepped out of the shelter.

Surrounding her was some kind of forest-- dominated by large, coppery-barked trees with spine-like leafs, some of which seemed to be at least as long as her arm. There was a large number of vines and bush-like plants too, many bearing what seemed to be fruits or nuts. Wherever she was, it seemed like it might be late summer, so she might be able to find food if necessary.

Another matter that was more urgent though, was where the rider and the dragon who should have been taking her to Igen Hold. If it was N'yal who had made the shelter while she was out, she could certainly not see any sign of him or his brown anywhere. And a being as large as a dragon probably should have left some quite distinctive tracks in a place like this..

It was the sound, little more than a barely audible chirr, which alerted Jahra of that she wasn't alone. And turning in the direction she thought the sound had come from, she found herself face to face with a strange creature.

About two meters long and standing on a pair of long, but muscular legs, there was something vaguely dragon-like about the creature-- as if some kind of avian had tried to become a dragon. Its smooth hide was a earthly brown with a noticeably lighter underside, and despite the rows of sharp teeth in its head, the creature didn't appear too threatening. In fact, it appeared to watch her with a certain aloof interest, chittering softly as it reached up with one arm to swat away some kind of insect that had just landed at its muzzle.

In the next instant however, Jahra got quite a startle as the creature suddenly threw its head back, uttering a piercing call that made her want to cover her ears with her hands. Before she got a chance to do that however, the call ended abruptly, and the creature settled back at its haunches-- scratching its neck.

Jahra shifted nervously, keeping a wary eye at the creature. Certainly it didn't appear hostile in any way, or had shown any real sign of becoming so, but how might it react if she tried to walk away...

Then however, she got something else to think of, as the sound of voices approaching reached her ears.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: the Dragonriders of Pern is the property of Anne McCaffrey.

* * *

Moving slowly, but with deliberate grace-- a creature that was easily the size of a dragon came walking into sight between two trees. A dome of bone surrounded by sturdy spikes on its head, the heavy creature did lack some of the instinctive elegance of the dragons she knew, but the intelligence in its eyes was unmistakeable. Its hide a bright tawny adorned with black, it also made quite a contrast against the surrounding forest.

Jahra froze, part of her wanting to run, while another part of her slowly noticed that the creature was wearing some kind of harness and what resembled a bridle. However, she didn't really notice the rider until he moved, giving the creature some kind of signal to bend down so that he could dismount.

Seeing that he was a human though, she allowed herself to relax slightly-- thought she still kept an eye at the two creatures.

Dark like an istan, he was rather tall-- clothes made of a vibrant gold and green fabric, a number of strange devices attached to his belt along with a long knife. Reaching up to give the large beast a pat, he mumbled something to it before turning his attention back to Jahra, a slight smile at his face as he seemed to study her for a few moments.

Rather nervous at the scrutiny she was subject to, Jahra pulled at a strand of sandy hair that had escaped her braid. And as she tried to decide on something to say, one part of her mind absurdly noticed how drab her own dark grey trousers and brown tunic looked when compared with the clothes worn by the man. Before she could loose her nerve, she quickly cleared her throat-- "ehm..., I'm Jahra. Could you tell me where I am, and are my companions anywhere nearby? N'yal and his brown dragon, Fenrith..."

The man's expression turned to one of apology as he shook his head, signalling that he couldn't understand. And suddenly he turned, as the beast he had ridden uttered a series of sounds with the same earth-trembling force she had heard when she was waking up not so long ago.

Just about then, the smaller creature approached her-- its voice lighter and considerably more pleasant to her ears as it nudged her hand. Then it bobbed its head and moved swiftly over to the man and its much larger 'cousin', all three looked at her-- turning to walk back in the direction they had came from.

"I..I guess that I am to follow, right?"

Frustrated and puzzled by that the man hadn't seemed to understand her, Jahra swallowed nervously. Now when they were walking away, she did have the opportunity to turn and flee-- they probably wouldn't have an easy time tracking her down in this dense forest. But what if there was more of the beasts around, that small one was probably quite capable of doing some damage even with its relatively slender frame.

What if there were worse creatures out there?

As Jahra hurried after the strangers, she noticed the plants and trees around her made it more and more clear to her that she wasn't on any part of Pern that she knew. Quickly, the large trees gave way to much shorter trees with massive trunks, none of them more than five meters or so at the tallest. The bark was mottled in various shades of brown with pronounced ridges running down the lenght of the trunk, the fan-shaped leafs were larger than her hand-- thick and dark yellow green of color with patches of red at the edges.

Covering the ground except for at the trail they walked on, was a greater variety of plants though-- bushes carrying berries or nuts, several types of vines growing on dead trees and a few smaller types of green plants. There didn't seem to be any plants carrying flowers, but then it might not be any late flowers in this season-- where she was at least.

By the time she caught up with her 'guides', she was quite out of breath, it seemed like the air in this place was thinner than what she was used to. But at least the man seemed considerate enough to slow the pace a bit, allowing her to follow a few meters behind the tail of the large beast.

After what felt like half an hour at least though, it seemed to her that the forest was thinning. Still, it did end rather abruptly, and Jahra more or less skidded to a stop as she found herself looking out over a vast plain. As far as she could see, there was low and grass-clad hills, only broken by the occational patch of small trees. Somewhere to the far left, she could also just make out the glittering band of what had to be a river.

Looking about though, the light did seem somewhat strange-- very faint and conflicting shadows. The reason for that though, became obvious as Jahra turned her eyes up towards the sky, to see two suns instead of the single one she was used to from home. Highest of the two was a yellow sun much like Rukbat, the other seemed smaller and paler than its sister-- that one also seeming to be much closer to the horizon and thus creating the longer shadows.

Freezing, she gaped at the strange sight, legs trembling as she truly understand that there was no possibility that she was still at Pern-- the planet she knew. Vertigo made her stagger, and at the next sight that came into her field of view, she did collapse.

Wings seeming to cover the entire sky, a immense dragon glided into view, making no audible sound at all as it banked to land at a hill not so far away. And if it had not been clear enough already, the dragon was not-- could not be a dragon of Pern. Pale, pearlescent blue with bands of brilliant white running through it, the dragon had to be at least ten dragon-lenghts, and its shimmering eyes held a fierce intelligence.

Forcing herself not to cry out, Jahra leaned forwards to rest her head between her knees, praying that she wouldn't pass out. By the First Egg, what kind of place was this..


End file.
